Car coupler and contour therefor



Jana i J. WILLISON CAR COUPLER AND CONTOUR THEREFOR Original Filed Feb. 16, 1923 IN VEN TOR AT RNEY Patented Jan. 18, 1927.

* UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WILLISON, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO,

ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

NATIONAL MALLEABLE AND STEEL OASTINGS COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A

CORPORATION OF OHIO.

CAR COUPLER AND CONTOUR THEREFOR.

Application filed February 16, 1923, Serial No. 619,363. Renewed August 5, 1926.

Fig. 1 is a plan of a pair of coupler heads in locked position embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan showing a common position of the coupler heads as they are moving into coupled position; and Fig. 3 is a plan showing the coupler heads during the coupling operation, with one of them in arather extreme angled position.

My invention relates. to automatic couplers-of the type shown in my Patent No.

1.201,665, dated October 17. 1916, in which the stresses of bufiing and draft are trans mitted directly from one coupler head to another without the interposition of movable parts such as knuckles, and in which the locking mechanism is designed primarily to keep the opposing couplers in interlocked position. My invention is particularly directed to the form of the outline or contour of the coupler for the purpose of increasing the strength of its buffing jaw, of rendering coupling easier either on a straight track or while the cars are on curves, and of de* creasing the liability of the couplers to fail to couple at all. My invention also consists in the various other features in my improved coupler and contour which I shall hereinafter describe and claim.

Referring to the drawings, the coupler head A has a rearwardly extending shank 2 provided at its rear end with suitable means for flexibly attaching it to the car framing (not shown), such as the vertical pivot 3, to provide for suflicient lateral angling between the limiting stops B on the car to permit the engagement or disengagement of interlocking projections on the opposing coupler, which is a necessary incident to coupling and uncoupling with couplers of my improved type. The coupler head A has a pair of jaws 4 and 5, the left jaw 4 being known as the gathering or guiding jaw andthe r1ght jaw 5 as the buffing jaw. These jaws 4 and 5' have vertically disposed butting and pulling faces to permit couplers of varying heights and positions on the cars to intercouple. Connecting the jaws 4 and 5 is a guiding and buffing face 6 arranged on axes inclined laterally to the line of draft, to which I will later refer. Each jaw 4 has a lateral recess 7 to receive the complementary jaw 5 on the opposing coupler, and its pulling face 8 engages a complementary face 9 on the aw ii at the opposing coupler. In. coupling, the

laterally inclined faces 10 and 11 on one coupler cooperate with the faces 10 and 11 and the intermediate face 6 on the other coupler to swing the couplers laterally to interlock their jaws 4 and 5. In coupled position pulling stresses are transmitted through the pulling faces 8 and 9, and the locks 12, while in buffing they are transmitted through faces 11 and 13 of the buffing jaws and the faces 6 and 14 at the rear corner of the recess 7.

Each lock 12, shown in locked position in Fig. 1 hereof, has its axis inclined laterally to'the line of draft and is adapted to reciprocate into and out of locked position by the manipulation of its operating mechanism or 7 by the action of the opposing coupler head, as is described in in pending application Serial No. 442,359, filed February 4, 1921.

In operating the coupler of my Patent No. 1,201,665 it has been found at times that it is impossible to couple automatically when tne opposing couplers are in positions similar to those shown in Fig. 3. Under such conditions the inward face of the guiding jaw strikes the outer face of the bufiing jaw of the opposing coupler and thus keeps the couplers from reaching coupled position. Even when these prior couplers are displaced laterally by but a slight amountfor instance, into a position similar to that shown in Fig. 2the interference is sufficient to necessitate the couplers being brought together with considerable force in order to effect coupling.

I overcome these difficulties in my improved. contour by extendingthe inclined face 10 of the gathering jaw substantially to its intersection at 15 with the pulling face 8 of that jaw; by increasing the depth of the recess 7 in jaw 4; by increasing the length of the jaw 5 so that its longitudinal axis is greater than its transverse axis; by

increased clearance in the recess so as to provide ample room for the jaw 5 to enter the recess 7 Without striking the point 15; and by forming the intermediate bufling face 6 between the jaws on the lines a, Z), c, which I have shown arranged at approximately 23, 30 and 47, respectively, to the transverse axis of the coupler, but which may be straight lines or in the form of shallow arcs.

It will be seen that, in coupling the line a peers-(tee a steep slope, against the; op

iosing jaw 5 strikes as the cars come together, and that the steepness of the slope accclerates the sliding of the jaw 5 along the buffing face (5 into its coupled position in the recess 7 in the jaw 1. By providing the face 6 at 0 at a steeper angle to the transverse axis of the coupler head I am also enabled to increase the amount of metal connecting the butting jaw 5 with the coupler head, thereby strengthening the coupler at a point of pos sible weakness, since the coupler head at this point is weakened by being recessed for the lock pocket.

I have shown the butiiing faces 6 and 11 and pulling faces 8 and 9 arranged substantially at angles of 23 and 30, respectively, to the transverse axis of the coupler, but, obviously, any reasonable variation may he made in such angles. It is, however, desirable that the coa'cting pulling faces 8 and 9 on the jaws 4: and 5 of opposing couplers be parallel, and that the butting faces 6 and 11 on these same jaws be also parallel, so as to provide in each case for firm and extended bearing of one of these surfaces against the corresponding surface on the opposingcoupler.

I have found that with couplers 'const-r'ucted in accordance with my improved contour much greater ease of coupling is attained in all positions which the coupler may assume, regardless of whether the cars are on a straight track or on curves, and that the wear on the couplers is decreased, since they couple so readily thatasecond attempt atcoupling is almost never necessary. The formation of the intermediate butting face with its steep slope adjacent the butling jaw not only has effected improved coupling operations but also provides greatly increased strength to the coupler and makes it more rugged and less liable to be damaged.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any mechanical equivalents of the features shown and described, or portions thereof, but recognize that various structural modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

hat I claim is: j

1. A car coupler of the vertical pla ne'ty-pe having rigid aws disposed on opposite sides of its longitudinal center l-ine, each aw being provided with a butting face and a pulling face, a guiding face intermediate said butting faces and arranged at a greater angle to the transverse axis of said coupler than said btifiing faces and sloping gradually into one of said bufling faces.

2. A car coupler of the vertical plane type having two oppositely disposed rigid jaws integral therewith, and a guiding and bufii-ng face intermediate. said jaws, said jaws being adapted to interengage with correspondingly shaped jaws of an opposing coupler, a jaw and the intermediate face of one coupler forming with a jaw and the intermediate face of the other coupler when the couplers are intercoupled a space elongated in a direction transverse to the line of draft, and reciprocating locks having axes arranged at a substantial angle to the line of draft sub stantially filling said space when the couplers are in locked position.

3. A car coupler of the vertical plane type having integral therewith a gathering jaw and a buffing jaw, and an intermediate inclined face between the said jaws arranged angularly to the line of draft, the portion of the said intermediate face adjacent to the butting jaw being at a greater angle to the transverse axis of the coupler than the remainder of the said intermediate face and gradually blending thereinto to assist in coupling and provide increased strength for the said buffing jaw.

i. A car coupler of the vertical plane type having two oppositely disposed jaws, pulling faces on each of said jaws arranged at the same angle to the transverse axis of the coupler, each jaw having a plurality of intersecting buffing faces arranged to engage complementary faces on .an opposing coupler when interlocked therewith, and an uninterrupted guiding face intermediate the said butting faces and arranged at a steeper slope than said bufiing faces to guide the said jaws into locking position.

5. A car coupler of the vertical plane type having integral therewitha gathering jaw and a buliing jaw, the butting jaw having a long and a short axis its'long axis being arranged at a slight angle to the line of draft and having one buffing face in line with its long axis and another transverse thereto, a recess in the gathering jaw of greater depth than the long dimension of the buffing jaw and having angled faces against which the butting faces of the buffing jaw bear in buffed position.

6. A car couiple r of the vertical plane type having a buffing jaw and a guiding jaw, said jaws being rigid with respect to the coupler and being oppositely disposed to each other; and an intermediate inclined butting and guiding face between said jaws, the inclination of said face with respect to the transverse axis of the coupler decreasing from the bufling aw toward the guiding jaw.

7. A car coupler of the vertical plane type having two oppositely disposed jaws. one of said jaws having a recess therein having two adjacent faces forming buffing bearings arranged substantially at right angles to each other and the other jaw having a long and a short axis its long axis being arranged at a slight angle to the line of draft, a loufling bearing on the front face thereof and an extended bufling bearing along the outer side thereof parallel with its long axis, the said butting beanings being arranged to engage complementary buffing hearings on an identically forincd coupler head.

8. A car coupler of thevertical plane type having rigid jaws disposed on opposite sides of its longitudinal center line and being adapted to interengage with correspondingly shaped jaws of an opposing coupler, each jaw being provided with a buffing face and a pulling! face arranged in planes oblique to the longitudinal axis of said coupler, one of said jaws having a locking face, a lock engaging said locking face when the couplers are coupled together, the opposite face of the lock being arranged substantially perpendicular to said pulling face and being engage-d by a corresponding face of the lock of the opposing coupler.

JOHN WILLISON. 

